Hello Bloggersphere, hope all is well. Since we have had Peter in from Carnyx upgrading our camera you have been able to watch our ospreys in (almost) HD! I actually didn’t think we were going to see EJ again after all that snow but was glad to see it melt away. Our ospreys are hardy Scottish birds and a little bit of snow isn’t going to stop them.
Over the past few days we have been trying to ID the interloping osprey with the blue leg ring. It has been a relatively quiet year for interlopers and the biggest problem our ospreys have had is chasing crows away from the nest. The crows have been hanging around for so long now that one of them has been named Jon Snow after the news presenter.
Now I'd like to tell you a little a bit about what other curios you can see if you visit the osprey centre. You are almost guaranteed a sighting, because they are stationary; trees.
Looking at it, a forest might appear to be a peaceful place for some of you. To me it is a boisterous celebration of nature. Walking through woods is like watching a fireworks display that occurs over hundreds of years. Seeds explode into life, shooting upwards and spreading further and further into the sky until the branches fizzle out into leaves. A strong wind will carry roots in odd directions and some displays will be stunted before they flourish. Like any good firework show, diversity triumphs over uniformity. Each tree tells us a story from right back to when wolves would roam our woodlands and when osprey eggs were still seen as a collector’s item. I have picked some of my favourite trees around Abernethy to show you what I mean. I promise it’s not as boring as it sounds!
Oldest tree in the forest?*
This is one of the oldest trees in Abernethy. It was cored and discovered to be 367 years old! It started its life in 1640 and currently holds the title for the oldest known tree in Abernethy. This tree also has a branded mark with the symbols of BB burned into it. This dates back to when trees would be marked to be cut down in the 1900’s. For some reason it never got the chop, but that wasn’t from lack of trying. We can still see the axe marks deeply gouged into the base.
Chop chop*
Every time I look at this tree I imagine a wolf peeing on it as it walks by or an osprey nesting in its crown as the forest around it slowly disappears. This tree was here for the rise and fall of the Caledonian pine forest and has survived two World Wars. We can even see the markings where the centre has been gouged out for the use of fir candles. Fir candles are another interesting sign to look out for when walking through the forest. A fir candle is taken from heartwood of a tree; as the sap is still running, the wood burns slowly, and these candles would be used to light homes in the past. This heartwood is taken when the tree is still living, and we can therefore see that it has been cut into.
Burn, baby, burn!*
Here is another amazing pine that bears the scars of battle. This tree has similar gouged markings (top) and can be seen as you drive towards Nethy Bridge through the forest from the osprey centre. This however is not from fir candles but from fire. In 1921, there was a forest fire that swept through the Dell woods and scorched much of the forest here. We can see from the scars on the trees that the fire came from the East. The two smaller trees show a more recent fire from the 1990’s, and they will bear these scars for a long time. Forest fires can be a natural process that are actually good for the diversity of the woodlands, but since we only have 1% of the Caledonian Pine forest left, it's probably best not to set it ablaze too often!
A young, twisted pine near the car park*
I put this tree in because it is pleasing to me. Even young trees are beautiful and it has been shaped and spiralled by the harsh Scottish wind. It is a relatively young pine and although it may have never seen wolves or lynx it may one day get to see and be part of their return of the Caledonian pine forest. We can see this lovely specimen from the osprey car park if you look towards the centre.
Ok, there were too many trees that I could mention and there are a number of dead ones that didn’t make it in. Some of those are actually more important as 60% of the diversity of the forest comes from dead wood! I couldn’t finish this blog without including other species that make up important parts of the Caledonian pine forest. Birch, Aspen and Willow are the other major species. But Brandon the birch is definitely the hardiest tree (this tree has the misfortune of being the most bumped into tree in the world). I don’t know how old Brandon is but I know he has survived Mitsubishis, Toyotas, Hyundai’s, Audis of all different makes and models going back to when cars didn’t even have catalytic converters on their exhausts, and it is still standing to this day. So if you do visit the osprey centre, please watch out for Brandon, I hope he too gets to see the full potential of the Caledonian Pine forest one day.
Brandon the oft-crashed-into Birch*
* all images by Fergus Cumberland